The presidential candidate of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, has promised to add at least 2,000 megawatts of solar power to Ghana’s energy mix in the next four years should he be elected president in the upcoming general elections.
He lamented that businesses in the country are becoming uncompetitive due to the high cost of electricity.
He attributed this to forex rates and the cost of petroleum on the international market.
He made the remarks while addressing the clergy in the Volta Region.
The Vice President noted that the exposure of Ghana’s energy mix to world crude prices and foreign exchange fluctuations increases the cost of living for the average Ghanaian and renders businesses uncompetitive.
“To reduce the cost of living is to look at our power generation. Ghana currently relies a lot on oil and gas to generate power and if you look at their [oil and gas] costs, they are quite high so anytime the prices move up in the Middle East, fuel, electricity, and transport prices also move up and so I want us to move away from oil and gas to solar power. It is the key for us in the generation of electricity.
“My goal and the goal that I have stated is that in the next four years, Ghana should add 2,000 megawatts of solar power to the generation of power and that is more than half of our consumption of electricity and so combine that with Akosombo and you would nearly reduce the cost of power by nearly 50 per cent and that will give our businesses a competitive advantage.”
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
